This invention relates to ski suspension apparatus for snowmobiles and the like.
A typical snowmobile includes a pair of skis, each ski coupled to the frame by a leaf spring and a shock dampener. The leaf spring has opposite ends mounted on the ski and a middle connected to the frame of the snowmobile. The shock dampener typically lies over the front half of the leaf spring, with the cylinder of the dampener connected to the middle of the leaf spring and the piston of the dampener connected to the front portion of the ski. The primary purpose of the dampener is to dampen up and down vibrations of the snowmobile frame. However, the effectiveness of the dampener is reduced by the fact that it must extend primarily horizontally in order to lie clear of the leaf spring. A design which permitted a more vertical orientation of the dampener and which otherwise simplified the connection of the frame to the ski, would provide a lower cost and more efficient ski suspension arrangement.